


the right decision

by xxprincessxx



Category: High School Musical: The Musical: The Series (TV)
Genre: F/M, Heartbreak, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-29
Updated: 2020-10-29
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:55:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,185
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27272272
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xxprincessxx/pseuds/xxprincessxx
Summary: Love is a decision. And whatever they decide, they know at the bottom of their hearts it was going to be the right decision.
Relationships: Ricky Bowen/Nini Salazar-Roberts
Comments: 6
Kudos: 25





	the right decision

**Author's Note:**

> hiii so, i've written a lot of fluffy things lately and i feel like my heart needed something a little heart-pulling. i had all too well on repeat while writing this, so i guess that kind of says how this one's going to go.

The truth was this: Love is a decision. 

Ricky and Nini learned that the hard way. The pair had been together ever since their junior year of high school, when Ricky finally found the guts to tell his best friend that he had feelings for her. And by some miracle, the small brunette had returned those feelings. They had gone on more dates than they could count, and traded even more kisses than that. 

Everyone that met and knew the pair could easily tell you that they were the one in a million. The couple that would make it through college, settle down together and finally seal the deal with a ring wrapped around their finger. The couple that could get through anything, because they were best friends first and have maintained that mentality throughout. The couple were soulmates, at least that was what everyone liked to believe.

But not everything is what it appears to be. 

It was easy to get swept away by those comments. It was easy to believe that the person you’ve been dating since high school, and have known so much longer than that, was meant to be your person forever. It was easy to believe that they were destined to have this epic love story. It was easy to believe that the love you have for them is going to be the easiest thing in the world, because being friends was so easy. 

But people seem to forget that the line between friends and lovers is a drastic one to cross. 

And the pair, now sitting on their couch together, their hands gripped together afraid of what was going to come next. A tense silence surrounding them, as they let their words linger in the air around them. Neither wanting to be the first one to say something, neither quite sure what to say. They begin to flashback to a time where everything was easy. 

Back when they used to yell cooties at one another, refusing to touch the other because all their classmates told them they couldn’t, or else they’d catch cooties like it was the chicken pox. When Ricky had cut off a chunk of Nini’s hair because he thought she looked prettier with short hair. When Nini had her appendix removed, and Ricky came to the hospital with a stuffed cow because he knew it was her favourite animal. And when Ricky poked fun when Nini had her first pimple, and she made fun of him when he had gotten his braces on. Even when they would sit on Ricky’s roof late at night, staring at the dark sky letting time pass them by, contemplating what their future would hold for them.

All the movies and the books portray that childhood best friends were meant to have the best love story out of everyone in the room. After so many years of push and pull, and will they, won’t they, everything else was supposed to fall easily. And it did. For a while. 

But now, sitting in Ricky’s apartment, they weren’t quite sure if everything was ever easy. When they first started dating, they realized that they started to change who they were. They were no longer the spontaneous best friends they once were, but a couple that had to consider how their actions and words would affect their partner. And over time, the small ticks that they used to love about each other began to annoy them. Their friendship slowly started to fade as time went on, realizing that being in a relationship is far more complex than just being friends. 

“Were you ever in love with me?” Nini’s voice breaks the silence, but not by much her question coming out as a whisper. The tone was sad and soft, as a tear slipped down her cheek, not bothering to wipe it away. 

The boy looks over at his best friend, raising his hand to wipe the tear away for her. Keeping his hand on her cheek, he tilts her head up to connect their eyes once more. “Of course,” He whispers, “I have been in love with you for a long time. And I will always love you, but just not like it should be, we both know that.” 

“Love is a decision, Ricky. I know we both know it in our hearts that this isn’t meant for us. It doesn’t make it hurt any less.” She mutters, running her thumb along the smooth skin of his hand, where their fingers were intertwined. 

“I’m kind of glad that it does.” He confessed, “It means that what we had was real. That it was real true love. Because Nini, you will be the greatest love that will ever enter my life, I can assure you that.” 

Her tongue darts out, licking her lips as she finds the courage in herself to speak, tears collecting in her eyes as she hears the words leaving his mouth. “You know how everyone used to say we’re soulmates?” She asks quietly. 

Ricky nods, running his thumb along the apple of her cheek as she leaned into his touch. Holding the brunette as long as he could, knowing that once they let go, that was it. That once she leaves his apartment tonight, that it was the end. 

“Maybe, we are soulmates.” She tells him, lifting her hand up to his own cheek wiping away the tear that had escaped his eyes despite his constant refusal, “Friend soulmates. We connected in a different way years ago, and maybe that’s what the universe meant for us. We were meant to have this epic story, and we did. We met and we fell in love, and then eventually we fell out. Maybe this is where our story ends.” 

“I’m never letting you go, I hope you know that.” He tells her, leaning his forehead against hers as more tears began to escape their eyes. “I love you, long time, Ni. This has been the best 5 years in my entire life.”

Their watery eyes still connected, the light beginning to fade out of the apartment as the sun that was once shining through the window begins to set. But neither realized how the room started to dim, as they were far too focused on their hearts starting to break and mend at the same time. Knowing that they are losing the one person that they’ve ever been in love with, but that just meant they were going to find themselves once more. Find who they were before they started dating, and grow into the person they were meant to be. Maybe that they just needed to grow apart before they could grow together again. 

Taking a deep breath, Nini nods against his head, “I love you, long time.” She tells him, grasping at his cheeks with both of her hands, not wanting to let go quite yet.

“This isn’t the end of our story,” He tells her, bringing both of his hands to her cheeks as tears continued to stream down both of their cheeks, “It’s just the end of this chapter."

**Author's Note:**

> hope you all enjoyed even if it's on the sadder side! this one really hit me in my heart. leave a kudos and a comment, and let me know what you thought!
> 
> as always, you can follow me on tumblr @nini-ricky
> 
> sending lots of love xx


End file.
